Google Boss Apologizes After Ads Shown on Extremist Videos

The head of Google Europe apologized Monday after reports of advertisements from high-profile businesses and government agencies appeared alongside extremist content on YouTube.

Since last Friday the United Kingdom companies that have gone public with plans to pull or have been said to be actively contemplating a pause in their Google-related advertising in the United Kingdom include retailers Marks & Spencer, Argos and Sainsbury’s; UK-based financial firms the Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds and HSBC; and worldwide heavyweights Audi, L’Oréal and McDonald’s, according to reports by the BBC and The Guardian.

Mr Schindler said Google would also make its advertising system “safer” for brands by giving them more control. The Guardian, the BBC, and the United Kingdom government are among those to have withdrawn advertising from Google and YouTube, and the company has been battling to get companies back on side. “We think that Google will probably need to articulate goals that sound more like a zero tolerance policy, to alleviate concerns before it can fully recover”, he wrote in a research note.

Several large advertisers said YouTube parent Google had better police the matter or they will pull their advertising dollars.

A new default setting that prevents ads from being shown against “objectionable” content. Brands have to to opt-in if they want their ads shown against a broader set of content.

Google places ads on YouTube videos using algorithms which track the person browsing the page, tailoring the ads based on their search history, for example.

However Ms Cooper said more action was still required.

Google was summoned to appear in front of Cabinet Office ministers on Friday.

“It is totally unacceptable that taxpayer-funded advertising has appeared next to inappropriate internet content – and that message was conveyed very clearly to Google“, a government spokesman said on Monday.

The ads in question were placed via software which allows advertisers to automatically buy ads within YouTube targeted to specific demographic groups. Google has changed millions of content publishers and creators to be heard, find an audience, build a business or even earn a living.

“We have always said Google, Facebook and others are media companies and have the same responsibilities as any other media company”.

Besides well-known British brands pulling the plug, some of the world’s biggest advertising companies responsible for placing vast amounts of marketing material for clients, said they were reviewing how they worked with Google.